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Susanta Behura researching mosquitoes and their genetics

Written by Logan Jackson · Photography by Logan Jackson · February 16, 2018

A global issue, dengue fever kills more than 20,000 individuals every year, most of whom are children, according the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Forty percent of the world’s population live in areas with a risk of dengue transmission. The World Health Organization reports that 50 to 100 million infections occur each year. Dengue fever is something Susanta Behura…

Scientists develop additional soybean reference genomes

When the Human Genome Project began in 1990, the goal was to sequence and map all of the genes that make up the human DNA. That project was completed in 2003 – and genome projects on many other species followed in subsequent years. Several crops grown in Missouri soon underwent genetic sequencing and mapping, including soybeans. The first soybean cultivar…

World Wide Agriculture Conference set for July 25-27

The World Wide Agriculture Conference will come to Columbia in July in honor of Professor William A. Albrecht. Albrecht was an emeritus professor of soils at the University of Missouri and was the foremost authority on the relationship between soil fertility and human health. Normally held in New Zealand, this is the first time that the WWA Conference will take…

Logan Howard writes and designs zines, a form of magazine

Written by Logan Jackson · Photography by Genevieve Howard · February 9, 2018

Logan Howard has always been a fan of stories, especially storytelling. Growing up, Howard found an exciting and fun way to tell stories – writing and drawing zines. Zines are a form of magazine, generally a self-published work by a fan. Howard learned about zines through several music zines in the mid-1970s. “I really got into zines in the early…

Denbigh honored with Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder Award

Written by Logan Jackson · Photography by Logan Jackson · February 9, 2018

Since 1978, the Distinguished Dairy Cattle Breeder Award has honored an individual who is an active Missouri dairy cattle breeder and has achieved recognition for accomplishments in breeding and developing outstanding cattle. John Denbigh, whose career at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources has spanned more than 30 years, took home the award in 2018.…

CAFNR/Biological Sciences team up for eclipse observations

When the total solar eclipse swept through Missouri in August of last year, the University of Missouri prepared a number of experiments and projects for the extremely rare occurrence. Mid-Missouri was in an ideal location for the eclipse, as the phenomenon traveled right through the Show-Me State. There was complete darkness at 1:12 p.m. in Columbia and it lasted nearly…

Deborah Finke studies insects and their interactions

With the ever-changing agricultural landscape, researchers continue to push to find ways to produce high-quality and high-yielding crops in a sustainable manner. Deborah Finke’s research focus is in the same area – on behind-the-scenes helpers that many individuals oftentimes mistake for a nuisance. Finke, an associate professor in the Division of Plant Sciences, is an insect ecologist, meaning she studies…

Written by Logan Jackson · Photography by Logan Jackson · January 17, 2018

The Missouri Show-Me-Select Replacement Heifer Program has enrolled more than 135,000 heifers on more than 850 farms during its 20 years of existence. The program, developed and spearheaded by David Patterson, a professor of reproductive physiology in the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR), celebrated its 20th anniversary during the Missouri Cattle Industry Convention and…

Emerich, Spencer named AAAS Fellows

David Emerich and Thomas Spencer are the latest University of Missouri College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources professors to be named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Emerich, a professor and associate chair of biochemistry, and Spencer, a professor in animal sciences and director of the Interdisciplinary Reproduction and Health Group (IRHG) at CAFNR,…

Jeff Wood's research allows for unique collaborations

Jeff Wood’s background and current research focus allows him to be a part of numerous unique projects. Wood, an assistant research professor in the School of Natural Resources, who joined the University of Missouri in 2016, played a role in two recently published papers – one involving understanding the cycling of nitrogen, the other focusing on better observing photosynthesis. Wood’s…